Eternal flame
by Saphfi
Summary: I believe, it's meant to be, darling. They're both in a place where they'd rather not be. They're both filled with hate to the other person. But hate and love is so close to each-other on the emotional circle. Rated M for sexual content, violence and language.
1. 1 Disbelief

**Rated M for highly sexual content, as well as torture, violence and language. I think that's enough said. This takes place after Harry, Ron and Hermione are captured in the forest in Deathly Hallows. Alternative universe, of course.**

**_All my days are spent,_**

**_all my cards are dealt._**

**_Fort Atlantic, Let your heart hold fast_**

Lucius looked down into the golden fire-whiskey. It was his only friend, nowadays. Narcissa wouldn't talk to him anymore neither did she touch him. Lucius couldn't help but think that Cissy blamed him for all of this. She defended him in front of everyone else, such as her mental sister (whom lately seemed to find great pleasure in mocking him for his failure), but when they were alone, he could see nothing else but accuse in her eyes. Draco wouldn't look at him either. Lucius knew that he didn't blame him, though Draco didn't dare to speak with anyone any longer. He was scared. It hurt Lucius so much to see his son being as scared as Lucius himself. He might have escaped from Azkaban, but nowadays his own house and family seemed to be the worst kind of prison. The only thing he could rely on was the whiskey. Burning his poor worn throat, he swallowed the shimmering liquid. He felt scorching air flee out of his nose, as a result of the alcohol in his mouth. Everything seemed to escape from him, even the air that kept him alive.

He sat alone in the drawing room in his favourite armchair with paintings of his ancestors watching over him with disproval.

"What have you become, Lucius?" one said "You are a disgrace to the name of Malfoy" said another, but worst of them all was his fathers voice, echoing in the room as he spoke:

"I no longer consider you my son"

Lucius jaw hitched. He took a deep breath, but couldn't hold it any longer. He slowly rose from his sunk-in despairing chair, took the carafe filled with his only happiness, and threw at the portrait of his father. The screams that followed were as horrid as they were unbearable. The paintings of his descendants were mad, all them, mad!

"OH BLOODY HELL WONT YOU SHUT UP?!" He yelled, trying to drown out the voices. He couldn't stand it! The portrait didn't take any physical harm; of course, his father had made sure that it was indestructible while he was still alive. Lucius had done the same thing to his own picture.

The cries suddenly went silent, at first, he didn't understand why, but when he looked around he found his beautiful wife standing in the doorway. She looked at him with her cold blue eyes. His own were grey, just like a cloudy London in November sky. Her eyes went from the now whiskey-drained painting of his father, to Lucius himself. This was the first time in weeks she had looked him in the eye. For second, he was filled with hope. Hoping that there still was a part of her heart that was still beating for him. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sounds came form it. Lucius could smell her flowery perfume, how many memories didn't he have from that fragrance? It was a blend of roses and lavender; she had had it since he first spoke to her at Hogwarts, oh so many years ago. That was back in the days when his eyes were still alive, when her lips always curled into a smile when she saw him.

"Cissy…" He finally said, feeling how his voice cracked because of the yelling and the fire-whiskey, still burning his gullet. He could feel his own eyes lightning up, filled with love for the woman in front of him.

"We have visitors, Potter and his friends. A snatcher found them in the woods." Her tone was short. She hadn't come to him to make up, he realized. His eyes lost their glistening that they had earned just a few seconds ago. "I've bought a new wand for you. You can't be completely useless for the rest of your days. Neither can I. We are still needed in the Dark Lords services."

Lucius nodded shortly, took a step closer to her, feeling how drunk he actually was. Did she care for him after all? She had bought him a new wand! At least that was something. He walked to her, leaning over her, stroked a white-blonde curl from her forehead.

"Cissy, I-"

"Sober up and hurry to the dining hall" She said, as she took a step backwards and he fell onto the floor.

It's short but, more will come soon.


	2. 2 Anger

**_Okey, so I'd like to clarify a few things. _**

**_First of all, thank you for following this story, it makes me really happy and gives me so much inspiration to continue. But here's the thing(s):_**

**_-This is my first fanfic EVER, meaning I don't know a great deal about how to write to fit the expectations. Therefore I'll mostly write for me. This is a story that has been in my mind for years, ever since Deathly Hallows came out in 2007. I just haven't been able to put it on paper until now. So, my language will be used in the way I'm taught to write, so sometimes there will be very compact texts. _**

**_-Speaking of language! I'd like you all to know that English is not my first language (I'm Swedish/Israeli), so if my grammar is incorrect, do correct me, but please do so nicely. _**

**_And last but not least…_**

**_-This story is not for the weak-hearted. If you're looking for a fanfic where Hermione will go by the nickname of 'Mione, or if you want to see Lucius turn into a sweet, loving man with a huge heart, you're in the wrong place. I believe in the ending of the Harry Potter series, therefore I'll make sure this story won't change much._**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Close your eyes and count to four<em>**

There was blood. Hot, sticky and wet. It was everywhere. And there was pain. Filling every inch of his body, the agony seemed to jab his veins, and he screamed.

"Who would have thought, Lucius Malfoy, being able to feel actual _pain_? You surprise me, my old friend" The icy voice spoke, and Lucius felt tears streaming down his face.

His face didn't turn red when he cried. Not that he usually did, but it happened, and when it did, he kept his pale colour. He could actually _smell_ the stone ground underneath him. His cheek was pushed down onto it, and warm, streaming blood pumped out from it. It was cut open. Some grains of sand seemed to be stuck in the wound, and it hurt, oh _Merlin it hurt_.

"M-My Lo-ord!" He sort of pushed the words out of his system. Please, please, make it stop! As he spoke there was no pride in his voice. It was only desperate, desperate for life.

"You're _pathetic_!"

"I _know_, please, my Lord, _please_!"

The Dark Lord laughed. When he laughed, it wasn't a warming tuneful sound, like Narcissas, It was just plain cold. It felt like ice was streaming out of the Lord's mouth. His red, snake-like eyes watched him constantly.

"_Crucio!_"

Lucius prepared for pain, but felt nothing. Relief. He was free! Free from the prison of a body he had been captured in, for how long he did not know. He felt like chuckling, it almost felt like happiness! The pain was gone, he felt _nothing_.

But then he heard it. The scream. He knew that one all to well. The feminine voice cut through his ears. It was as if a sword had cut the air in half. He tried to see; he tried so see her, his wife. But everything was dark. Had he turned blind after all the torture? The seconds that passed seemed to be hours. Maybe they turned into days? He did not know for how long he heard Narcissa's screams. He tried to reach her with his hands, but as a result of his (hopefully) temporary sightlessness, he could not touch her. He wanted to. He wanted to hold her hand; he wanted to be there for her. But no. He could not. It hurt him so badly, and what hurt him even more was that she didn't yell his name. He needed her to need him. But as it seemed, she didn't. In so many ways, that made him proud of her, but also so damaged so much.

* * *

><p>Hermione Granger had never felt so much fear in all her life. How long had it been since it happened? Her pulse was just as high as it was a few hours ago. She could still see Ron's face. His fury. She had sacrificed herself for him. It would have been her or Ron, and for her, the choice was obvious. During the fight at Malfoy Manor, Dobby had appeared. Harry and Ron must have planned it, whilst Bellatrix was torturing her. But something went wrong. The second Dobby appeared, it was a matter of seconds to reach him, and he, in the purpose of distracting the Malfoys, destroyed a huge chandelier that was hanging above them. It fell to the ground, and Hermione quickly realised that both her and Ron was on the wrong side of it. Ron didn't, so she shoved him over, and by the time the chandelier hit the ground, it was to late for her to pass as well. She felt a strong hand grabbing her from behind, and she was stuck.<p>

Dobby, acting on instinct, disapparated with Luna, Olivander and the two boys she loved most. One of them, stealing her heart the second she met him, making her feeling the need to support him and be there for him the rest of his life. Harry; her best friend Harry. He did not realise what had happened. She saw it in his eyes as he disappeared. But Ron did. Ron, the boy she had slowly fell for. It had taken her long, but eventually, she did. She did fall for the red-haired, freckly lad whom always seemed to urge something to eat. She loved him, not only as a friend, not the same love as she felt for Harry. She loved him in a completely different way. But now he was gone. He had screamed her name before the air kidnapped him, pushed him to an other place than this.

This place was how she imagined horror. It was like someone had boiled the word for hours and hours, until it turned into a thick extract. And this was the result. Malfoy Manor was the solid, cloggy definition of the word terror. She felt nothing but fear inside this house, and it may seem mad, but it seemed as the Malfoy family felt the same way. But maybe the only reason for their fear was Voldemort's presence. She had never seen him, not face to face, but she knew instantly who he was the second she saw him. His icy, thin skin, as though it would break any second, tightly stretched over his bones. And his red eyes; formed like a snake's, which made his whole appearance even more terrifying.

Hermione had been lying on the floor for hours, she had counted each second, in the hope that one of the numbers would be the last one she had to quietly speak, that Ron and Harry would come and rescue her before she had counted to a certain number. But she heard nothing but the sound of a tortured Malfoy family. No "bang" from apparition, no furious curses casted against the evil wizards a few meters away from her. She herself had, strangely enough, not received any of the treatment that the Malfoys suffered from. She understood why, because she was a clever girl after all, but the thought did not calm her for a second.

"Now, what to do with you?" She heard the voice that belonged to Lord Voldemort say. She realised that he was talking about her. She bit her lip, her face still facing the wall she wasn't able to see anything but grey-green wallpapers. Her wand had been taken from her by Bellatrix Lestrange, so she could not defend herself in anyway. Her hands were tied back, so were her legs. The rope that hold her was not any rope that could be broken after some lurking and twisting, it was magical, of course. So there was no way on earth for Hermione Granger to escape. Not even with the great mind of hers.

"Lucius…" The voice sounded as though the idea just got to him, but Hermione knew he had planned this. Also did she know what was coming. "Raise"

She heard a stumbling noise, understood that Lucius Malfoy's legs had turned week after the torment they had been through.

"…My Lord?" Hoarse, his voice broke through her hearing. She could smell a strong fragrance of alcohol, and she was thankful for her hidden face, since her facial expression said very much of what she thought. Lucius Malfoy, drunk? It wasn't like him, not the man she had met a few years ago at the ministry of magic. But then, of course, things had changed since then.

"Step forward to the Mudblood I want you to grab her arm" Hermione swallowed her anger. Not Hermione, not Miss Granger, no, "the Mudblood", as if it was her name. As though she was nothing else but her blood status. But then again, she supposed she wasn't, not to them.

The same stumbling noise was heard as she felt a strong hand grabbing her left arm.

"Apparate to your secret place. You must not leave until you get answers from her, and you must not talk to anyone until you have the information we need. You have two months, Lucius. This is your last chance. If you do not succeed, I'm afraid the consequences will be… brutal"

"My… My Lord, please,, please my Lord I-"

"_You have no right to ask for my mercy, Lucius! How many times haven't you failed me? Now is the time to pay the price! Two months, and your family will only be a sweet memory!"_

Hermione heard Lucius swallow, and his hand actually started shaking.

"My Lord I will-" He started, and Hermione took her chance. She may not have her wand, but she had fists. With all the power within her, she punched Lucius Malfoy, right in the face, almost exactly the way Sirius had done it before his death. The only difference was that when Sirius had done it, it had seemed fair. Now, she had just hit a man at the bottom of his life. It felt wrong, but it was her only chance. Once at this "secret place", she would have no chance to escape.

"You silly girl!" Screamed Lord Voldemort, as he raised his wand, and she ran towards a door.

A loud "bang" was heard, and Ron, Harry and Dobby were standing in the middle of the room.

"What on earth took you so long?!" She screamed at them, as the two boys raised their wands.

"I'm so sorry Hermione, we couldn't pass through it was impossible and I-" He had cried, his face blushing red and irritated eyes.

It all only took a few seconds. Lord Voldemort was now raising his wand against Harry, Harry raising his, and Ron Weasley was reaching for her. She started running towards them, if she only reached them in time, there would be no duel between Harry and the Dark Lord, they'd be able to escape before anything happened!

But before she got to them, she felt a couple of strong hands around her waist, and with a "pop" she was no longer at Malfoy Manor.


	3. 3 Bargaining

**Too many bottles of this wine we can't pronounce**  
><strong>Too many bowls of that green, no lucky charms<strong>  
><strong>The maids come around too much<strong>  
><strong>Parents ain't around enough<strong>  
><strong>Too many joy rides in daddy's jaguar<strong>  
><strong>Too many white lies and white lines<strong>  
><strong>Super rich kids with nothing but loose ends<strong>  
><strong>Super rich kids with nothing but fake friends<br>_**

It was as though they had travelled through a super-thin pipe. They were squeezed against each other, and then, a second later; they fell down in white, powdery snow.

"_WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" _Hermione yelled furiously, reaching for his silver-blond hair, trying to hurt him, trying to _punish_ him for what he had done.

It didn't make any sense, not at all. Voldemort had had Harry in his arms! There was no need of keeping her hostage! Voldemort had what he had wanted, why take her away as well?

"Oh for _Merlin's sake_! Stop that, would you?!" He roared back, as he fast as ever took up his wand, pointed it at her as he did a gracious movement with his arm, calmly pronouncing the spell; "Petrificus Totalus"

Lucius Malfoy sneered slightly as he turned away from the now completely motionless mudblood in snow below him. He dusted of the filth that had come with the disapparation, and started to cast spells around them.

Anti-disapparation jinxes (just as the ones that had caught him at the ministry two years earlier) and intruder charms running from his wand. This was nature for him, it was so simple magic, but yet so effective. While casting the spells he damned himself. What had he done, really? He was going to get punished for this, and he knew it. Had he messed up the Dark Lord's plans again? But still… if so were the case, how could he still be alive? If his actions had disturbed the strategies the Dark Lord had set up, wouldn't he have been punished by now? Yes. _Yes, that must be it_. In the end, Lucius _had _followed order, indeed he had! If there had been any harm in his choices, he would have known by now.

Being done with the protections, he turned around once again to look down at the mudblood. He raised his wand, pointed it at her, made her lifeless body fly a few inches above the ground, and as he started walking, he made sure that her body followed him.  
>It was obviously ice cold, but that was one of the things he truly enjoyed about this place. After a walking about 100 meters, his family's countryseat was appearing in front of him. It was absolutely stunning, and it almost made him feel sentimental.<p>

Lucius Malfoy was panicking. He could not explain his actions, it he had reacted on pure reflex. The only thing that actually calmed him was the big house in front of him, the snow on the ground, and the icy-blue skies ahead of him. If it weren't for those things, he'd probably gotten himself unarmed by that stupid mudblood. He was lucky, Lucius, that he was such a great wizard. If he weren't, this situation would have been so much harder.

The Dark Lord would make him suffer for this. He was convinced he would. But in what way? Through Narcissa? Would he straight up kill him? No, the Dark Lord didn't give death as punishment. He made sure that one in the end asked for it. _Draco_. No. No, not Draco. _Not Draco, oh please._ Lucius swallowed. If his son… His only son… _DON'T THINK ABOUT IT! Focus, Lucius, for Merlin's sake!_

Right. Focus. Lucius had a turn-off-switch. It was only truly available if he had work to do, which he most certainly had now. He made the door open, and with the magic from his wand, he pushed the mudblood into the entrance hall. Made the door lock itself, as he realised her from her prison.

Hermione Granger reacted instantly as she was free to move. She jumped up from the floor, glaring at him with her most daring look. After the time in her immobile state, she had tried to figure out what to do next. He had cast the spells she had thought he would, which complicated things. There was no way she'd get out of this house (or landscape, for that matter) without a wand. And to her knowledge, that wand was now in the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange. Leaving it down to her and Lucius Malfoy, but he had his wand in a strong grip, and even though he seemed weakened by the consequences of the war and torture from Lord Voldemort, he was still a great deal stronger than her. It left her without any obvious choices. Therefore, she had decided to be calm and wait it out. Wait until an opportunity showed itself, and then, she'd go for it straight away.

But that moment was not this one. She now simply glared at Lucius Malfoy in the same way she had done so many years ago. When they first met, he had noted in a high voice that he knew of her heritage. She was not and had never been ashamed of it. Hermione could see through people like Lucius Malfoy, therefore, she did not fear him. At the age of twelve, she had met the cold-grey eyes of a grown-up Death Eater. At the age of fourteen, she had repeated that act. Hermione had sometimes questioned her place in Gryffindor house, wondering if she didn't fit better into Ravenclaw. Moments like this made her certain that she was placed in the right house. She was no coward. She wasn't like the Malfoys.

"And now what? Where are we? Do you think Voldemort will be plea-" She stopped in the middle of the sentence, screaming. Her cheeks hurt so badly, and when she looked up on Malfoy, it seemed as though he had used a cutting-spell to slice her mouth into a wide Glasgow-smile. She forced her left hand to touch it, and as it reached the wound she sighed because of the aching.

"Ho-" She tried to speak, but out from her mouth came only blood. Hermione felt her eyes tearing up, but determined not to show him the pain he caused her, she just stared back at him. It _hurt_! She wanted to scream, but she couldn't. Not in front of _him. _

"_Let's just calm down, shall we_?" He said with that awful, ignorant voice of his. She had heard almost exact the same sentence just a few years ago at the ministry. He smirked at her, as she now sat down on the floor. She had fallen on her knees as his spell hit her. "I think we should make a few rules. The first one should be… ah, maybe, don't mention the Dark Lords name?"

_Fear of a name only increases the fear of the thing itself. _Hermione's words echoed through her head. If she had been able to talk, she would have said it.

"I want your approval of the first rule, Mudblood" __

_Only if you don't call me Mudblood._ She thought, as the cut grew bigger, now almost reaching her ears. She screamed, but it didn't really form a scream, more some type of odd noise. She hated to give up, but this rule wasn't very important to her, so eventually she nodded.

"Now now, that's how I prefer it!" He sneered, Hermiones body filled with disgust. "Second rule, you get to ask me no questions about my work. If you do, I'll give myself the right to put your body danger. I won't need your approval on that one"

Hermione swallowed, her throat filled with blood. As a reaction, she started coughing the liquid she had just tried to swallow. Lucius Malfoy's robes got splatters of red.

"_You filthy Mudblood! _How _dare_ you soil me, your superior?" He yelled as she desperately tried to stop coughing.

Lucius Malfoy stepped backwards, and after a few seconds he seemed to have calmed himself.

"The last rule… Don't you think we could agree on not using excessive violence? It seem to be very unnecessary in my eyes. Don't you think? Very well. Let's play a nicer game from now on." Hermione could not believe her ears! He was such a… such an… _ignorant arse!_

Only 3 minutes later Hermione Granger found herself locked up in a room, her wound healed and left alone with her own thoughts.


End file.
